St. Cloud Man Arrested On Marijuana Charges

A St. Cloud man wanted on marijuana importing charges in South Carolina was arrested at his home Sunday by FBI agents.

John Mitchell Hansell Jr., 39, 5485 Clay Whaley Road, was arrested after being indicted by a federal grand jury in Columbia, S.C., last Wednesday.

He was freed Monday on $50,000 bail pending his return to South Carolina to stand trial.

Hansell's attorney, Bill Barnett of Orlando, said the charges are ''a mystery'' to his client, who is a commercial fisherman.

Barnett told U.S. Magistrate Donald Dietrich in Orlando on Monday that Hansell pleaded guilty in South Carolina in 1983 to conspiring to possess and distribute 23 pounds of pot and was placed on two years' probation. Barnett said he believes the federal charges arose out of the state probe.